The Apple TV subscription service, which has been rumored for a long time now, would reportedly let customers build their own bundle of cable channels, allowing users to stream live television directly to an Apple TV box.

Today, Moonves said that Apple and CBS were close to settling on a price point of between $30 and $40 per month for these bundles — Moonves specifically mentioned the price point of $35 multiple times — before Apple decided to pause and reconsider.

Still, Moonves is confident that the time for this kind of service has come, whether from Apple or someone else.

"This will happen," he said. "People will not be spending money on channels they don't want to watch."

Apple is also reportedly looking to take a 30% cut of subscription fees, the same way it takes a cut of App Store revenues. Complicating matters further, too, is Apple's reported plan to include content from local broadcast channels via licensing deals with local network affiliates, which require navigating through additional negotiations.